How to enable all cores. How to enable all processor cores How to enable all processors on Windows 10
Owners of powerful PCs with multi-core processors usually want to configure the system to deliver full power to get maximum performance, but they often don't know how to do this. In this article we will look at instructions on how to enable all cores.
What result can you expect
There is a fairly common misconception that a processor with multiple cores has the same performance as a PC with multiple processors. To give an example, consider the analogy of loading material into a container for recycling. Several workers can bring the product instead of one, if you imagine that the workers are processor cores. Transferring and reading information is faster. Instructions with screenshots on how to overclock the processor.
Setting up kernels in BIOS
Sometimes, due to a dead battery on the motherboard or for some other reason, the settings are reset to default settings. In this case, you usually need to check and set the parameters manually. To do this you will need:
Enabling kernels in the configuration utility
If the BIOS settings are set correctly, but the kernels are still not active, you can try changing the settings in a special Windows configuration program. For this you will need:
After completing the operations, reboot the system.
Configuring kernels for a specific process
Using the task manager, you can enable the required number of cores for a specific program. This is done as follows:
Note: in the task manager, on the performance tab, you can see whether all cores are running at the moment. Each of them displays its own diagram.
Energy Settings
Sometimes, due to power settings, the computer does not use all processor cores. Most often this situation occurs in laptops. To check the settings and set the correct value, you will need to do the following:
Hi all! Sometimes a game or program does not work at full capacity because... Not all cores are responsible for performance. In this article we will look at how to use all the cores of your processor.
But don't expect a magic wand, because... If a game or program does not support multi-cores, then nothing can be done unless you rewrite the application again.
How to run all processor cores?
So, there will be several ways. That's why I'm showing first.
Go to start - run or win + r keys
Select your maximum number of processors.
- Go to the task manager - ctrl+shift+esc.
- Or ctrl+alt+del and task manager.
- Or right-click on the control panel and select task manager.
Go to the processes tab. Find the game and right-click on the process. By the way, the game must be running. You can collapse it either Win+D or alt+tab.
Select set match.
Select all and click ok.
To see whether all cores are working or not, go to the performance tab in the task manager.
There will be a diagram in all tabs.
If not, then click again to set the correspondence, leave only CPU 0, click ok. Close the task manager, open it again, repeat the same thing, select all processors and click OK.
In laptops, power saving is sometimes configured in such a way that the settings do not allow all cores to be used.
- Win7 - Go to the control panel, go to power options - Change plan settings - change additional power settings - processor power management - minimum processor state.
- Win8, 10 - Or: Settings - System - Power and Sleep - Advanced Power Settings - Configure Power Plan - Change Advanced Power Settings - Processor Power Management - Minimum Processor Status
For full use, it should be 100%.
How to check how many cores are running?
We launch it and see the number of active cores.
Do not confuse this parameter with the number of virtual processors, which is displayed to the right.
What does the number of processor cores affect?
Many people confuse the concept of number of cores and processor frequency. If we compare this with a person, then the brain is a processor, neurons are nuclei. Cores do not work in all games and applications. If, for example, a game runs 2 processes, one draws a forest and the other a city, and the game is multi-core, then you only need 2 cores to load this picture. And if the game has more processes, then all the cores are used.
And it may be the other way around: a game or application can be written in such a way that only one core can perform one action, and in this situation the processor with the higher frequency and the most well-built architecture will win (usually for this reason).
In many cases, the Windows operating system does not use all the capabilities of the processor and does not fully enable it. And therefore, most of the computer brain does not participate in the computing processes of the system. Naturally, this does not suit anyone. Even when Windows Xp was still a popular OS, many were already looking for a solution how to check the number of working cores. And having learned that not all the capabilities of the processor are used in the computer, they were looking for a way to run the CPU at 100%.
At the moment, this issue can be resolved very easily, but not all PC users know how to do this. To find out this information, you just need to launch some complex program or game, and then open the task manager. In it you can see whether all cores are loaded with work. And if your computer shows that it is lazy and does not use all its capabilities, then in this article you can find out.
Finding out the number of processor cores
There are several ways to determine the number of threads installed on a computer CPU:
- by reading the manual that came with the processor;
- utilities available in the operating system;
- using additional software.
CPU documentation
Find the instructions that came with the CPU or its packaging. Write down the exact name of the processor model, and then find its description on the Internet. Among the parameters will be the number of cores built into the CPU is indicated.
Helpful information! You can find out the processor model in the Windows system properties: call the context menu of the “My Computer” icon. Next, click “Properties”. In the window that appears, you will see a line where the name of the CPU is displayed.
In the operating system
Using search, find the “Device Manager” utility and open it. Here you need to select the “Processors” section, where you can see how many cores the CPU has.
Additional Applications
Exists many software products, which make it possible to find out the parameters of the central processor. The most common software are:
AIDA64. The application has a shareware period of use. The program has quite a lot of capabilities for diagnosing a personal computer. To find out the information you need about the number of cores required: Open AIDA64 and select “Motherboard”. Next, go to the CPU section, in which select “Multi CPU”.
The second method: go to the “Computer” item and open the “Summary information” section in it. Then select the “System board” sub-item and find the line “CPU type” there. Left-click on the processor and select the “Product Information” function.
CPU-Z. It's easy to system requirements and free software. You can find out how many cores your processor has here:
Open the CPU-Z application and click on the "CPU" tab. The “Number of active cores” item there will display the number of built-in cores in the central processor.
Processor operation without additional settings
It is important to know! Multi-core processors use all the cores they have. Most often they operate at different frequencies. From time to time, the system may disable some CPU threads to save power. This function it's called CPU core parking. This depends on how the BIOS or specialized utilities that control CPU modes are configured.
Advantages of using a multi-core processor should be demonstrated in this way: when a person fills a bucket with water using one tap, he realizes similar work for one period of time, but when another tap is added to the process, the container can be filled much faster. However, the amount of liquid that will eventually fit into the bucket will not change.
When using multiple cranes, productivity improves. And the same thing happens when using many cores in the central processor - it begins to process the information that comes in faster and more efficiently.
Has the meaning! The CPU operates in a multi-core state only when the application it is processing is designed for this mode. In the case where the program developer has not implemented the function of supporting multi-threaded processors, only one core will be used.
There is one period during the operation of Windows 10 when only one processor thread is active. This is the moment when the computer loads the operating system. Although even in this case the situation can be improved. To do this, you need to know how to enable 4 cores on Windows 10 using standard operating system tools and motherboard firmware settings (BIOS).
Built-in utilities Windows 10
- To use the built-in utilities, you need to launch the “Run” command in the start menu or use the “Win + R” button combination. Next, type the word without quotes: “msconfig” and press ENTER.
- The system tool will open with standard O.S. Windows settings.
- You need to select the “Download” tab and click on the “Advanced options” item. After this, check the top left box and indicate the maximum number of cores in the drop-down list. If you think that 2 threads will be enough, then you can set this number.
- On the right side, you also need to activate the “Maximum Memory” function by checking this box. An essential requirement in this case is that at least 1 GB of RAM must be used per separate processor thread. In this regard, if your computer, for example, has an 8-core CPU, but only 2048 mb of RAM, then set the “Number of processors” parameter to no higher than two cores, so as not to worsen the situation. This requirement must be taken into account when using all processor cores during system startup.
- There should be no checkmarks in the “PCI Blocking” and “Debugging” parameters.
- After completing the settings and applying the changes, the PC will ask you to reboot for the configuration to start working; fulfill this requirement. It's best to boot Windows 10 into Safe Mode first to make sure everything is working properly.
BIOS Settings
You should only change BIOS firmware parameters at the moment when they have been reset to standard settings due to a technical failure. Another similar situation can occur when the charge in the CR2032 battery, which is located on the motherboard and is responsible for saving user BIOS settings, drops. In other situations, all CPU cores in the BIOS should start automatically.
To enable all cores go to “Advanced Clock Calibration” in the BIOS firmware menu. And configure the characteristics “All Cores” or “Auto” here.
Attention! The “Advanced Clock Calibration” menu item may have a different name in some BIOS versions. Then you need to check the manual that came with your computer's motherboard.
Changes in computer performance
Will this change the performance of my computer? Most likely not much. No matter what many people say about this method of PC acceleration, it will not really add speed to the operation of the system unit. The described technique can give a performance boost only during Windows boot due to the fact that with standard settings, only one processor core is used for such a task. However, at a time when the OS has already fully loaded, all available kernels are included in the work. And then, each begins to function in its own way, at its own frequency.
This means that if only one thread is enough to solve the task assigned to the processor, then there is no need to load free cores. And when more complex tasks appear, the system uses all the remaining capabilities of the CPU.
In other words, you shouldn’t get too carried away with this issue and waste your precious time on such a minor improvement. It is more effective to change other, more significant parameters and components in the computer so that your system unit can reliably cope with modern applications and tasks.
By default, Windows 10 uses all processor bases as needed. But other users can change OS or BIOS settings without your knowledge. As a result, the performance of the CPU and the PC as a whole decreases. In this article we will look at how to enable all cores on Windows 10.
How a multi-core processor works
All current processors are multi-core. This technology is advantageous in that several calculations can occur in parallel, thereby increasing overall productivity.
Windows 10 is highly optimized for multi-core processors. So the user does not need to make any settings or enable all available cores. The system itself determines which resources to use for a particular task.
If you need to use one basis to solve a problem, then only that will work. As the number of calculations increases, the OS will connect the second, third basis, and so on, until the calculations are fully implemented.
Determination of the number of working cores
To find out the number of running basics, you need to call the Windows 10 task manager. Visit the “Performance” tab. The image shows a processor from Intel. Below we see its condition and characteristics. This processor has 2 activated cores and 4 logical processors.
A graph of CPU activity is also displayed here. To make sure that all the bases are active, right-click on the graph, point to “Edit graph”, select “Logical processors”.
As a result, the graph is divided into 4 subgraphs (yours may differ). Here you can see that all 4 logical bases are involved, the load of which is controlled by Windows 10.
If kernels are disabled in the OS or BIOS, they will not be displayed in the task manager and even special programs such as CPU-Z. So, by disabling two logical cores for the processor model (in the picture below), the task manager will display one core and two logical processors. That is, according to the task manager, you can call a dual-core processor single-core, although this is not so.
But at the same time, in the Windows 10 Device Manager in the “Processors” section, the real number of logical processors is displayed (you can also find out similar information on the manufacturer’s website). Compare this number with the number of running logical processors in the task manager. 
If the meanings are equal, then everything is in order. If the values are different, then not all basics are activated, read below how to enable them.
Enabling all cores with Windows 10 weapons
The method involves changing the system configuration settings. Open “Run” (described here). Type msconfig into the input line, click OK. 
Visit the Downloads tab by clicking More Options. To run all processor cores on Windows 10, uncheck the “Number of processors” option, as well as the “Maximum memory” option. Click OK in all windows. Restart your PC. If these options are not checked, move on to the next method. 
Now go to the task manager and enjoy the results. If you enable all cores, PC performance will significantly increase.
Activating all the basics in the BIOS
BIOS contains PC hardware settings. There are different types of BIOS, and their section names are different. Let's look at activating all the basics, using AMI as an example, and then list the names of the necessary settings.
You need to go into the BIOS with Windows 10. Go to the OC Tweaker section. Next, point to the CPU Active Core Control option and press Enter. Select Disable by pressing Enter. 
Don't forget to press F10 and select OK to save the settings. As a result, all cores will turn on (unlock).
Other sections may be called Advanced, Extreme Tweaker, and Spitting. The options themselves can have the following names: Processor Options, AMD Core Select, Processor Core, Active Processor Cores, Core Multi-Processing, CPU Cores, and the like. These options are enabled by All, Enable (Disable), All Cores. The UEFI settings are changed using the same principle.
As you can see, there is no need to activate all processor cores on Windows 10. By default, the system itself determines how much CPU power to use to solve the assigned tasks. Well, if another user has limited the number of working cores, you can always correct the situation thanks to our recommendations.
Modern computers have great computing capabilities, so it’s difficult to surprise anyone with a two-, four-, or even six-core processor. But a novice user who is not familiar with the technical features of the device may be interested in how to enable all cores on Windows 10 to increase computer performance.
How to find out the number of processor cores?
You can find out how many cores are in the processor installed on your computer or laptop using programs, built-in Windows tools and in the description of the CPU.
In the CPU description
Check the device manual to see which model is installed on your computer. After that, find a description of the processor on the Internet.
Healthy! You can also see the model in the OS description: RMB on the Start menu → System → in the “System” block the name of the CPU is indicated.
On Windows
Programs
Many programs have been created that show the characteristics of the device.
CPU-Z
AIDA64
The shareware utility AIDA64 contains a large set of functions.
Run the program → Motherboard → CPU → Multi CPU. 
Alternative option: Computer → Summary information → Motherboard block → in the “CPU Type” line LMC on the processor → Product Information.
How many cores are used by default?
The main thing to remember! In a multi-core processor, all cores are always running at the same time (read the article “Tuning Windows 10 for maximum performance to speed up your computer”). Basically, they operate at different frequencies (depending on the BIOS settings or special utilities that come with the motherboards).
The benefits of running a multi-core CPU can be summarized as follows. If a person pours water into a bucket from one tap, he will do this work in one period of time. If you turn on the second tap, you can fill the bucket much faster, but the total volume of water that can be contained in it will not increase.
By using two taps the operation is optimized. The same thing happens when using multiple cores in the CPU - it processes the data that comes in for calculation faster and more efficiently.
Important! The processor operates in multi-threaded mode only if the program it is executing is optimized for this. If the software manufacturer does not support multi-core CPUs, only one core will be used.
How to use all cores?
On Windows 10
Important! Each core must have at least 1024 MB of RAM, otherwise you will achieve the opposite effect.
In BIOS
You can make changes to the BIOS only if they are “crashed” due to a failure in the OS (read the article “Boot your Windows 10 computer in safe mode” to find out how to start your PC if it is unstable). In other cases, all processor cores are enabled automatically in the BIOS.
To enable all cores, go to the Advanced Clock Calibration section in the BIOS settings. Set the indicators to “All Cores” or “Auto”.
Important! The Advanced Clock Calibration section may have different names in different BIOS versions.
Conclusion
During operation, all processor cores are used, but they operate at different frequencies (depending on the settings made). You can enable all CPU cores at OS boot in the BIOS settings or in the System Configuration options. This will reduce the boot time of your PC.
